New Delhi, Aug. 8 -- WASHINGTON - The Senate confirmed Todd Blanche as attorney general of the United States early Saturday in a 50-49 vote, the narrowest possible margin and one that required a written promise from Blanche before a single Republican who had wavered could bring himself to vote yes.

Blanche is Trump's former personal criminal defense attorney, the lawyer who sat beside him in a Manhattan courtroom during his hush money trial and defended him against federal charges brought under the Biden administration. That background is now the official qualification for leading the agency that prosecutes federal crimes in the United States.

Two Republican senators voted against him. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska...